Holly Fulton Spills Her Beauty Rules And Style Secrets

We were lucky enough to hang out with fashion designer, Holly Fulton, to talk all things style and beauty, plus she filled us in on her brand new collaboration with Compeed…

Hi Holly! So what age did you start designing?

I began drawing when I was about seven but didn’t really think I’d be a designer. When I was taking French class at school, I learned how to say I want to be a fashion designer like Vivienne Westwood! Then when I was about 18 I was sure I wanted to be a designer.

You mentioned that London was an inspiration for you to start designing, is there anything else that inspired you behind your collections?

I’m actually a dreadful hoarder so I have a huge collection of stuff and that’s something that came from my parents – they’re complete magpies! My mum was a librarian and she used to bring home endless books, and there were lots of antiques in our house. I had a lot of visual stimulation when I was young – there was always a lot happening, and I always knew I’d do something that was quite creative.

How would you describe your everyday style?

Sadly, now I’d say it’s probably a bit lazy because I don’t make as much effort when I go to the studio. I love wearing lots of jewellery, and I always have a red lipstick in my handbag. My style as I got older is still very colourful, super patterned – I’m always attracted to print. I’ve recently also got back into wearing rings.

So do you always wear a red lip?

Yes! If that isn’t there, everyone’s like are you ill?! You can tell something’s up if I’ve forgotten to wear one.

Do you have a style icon?

I’ve always been fascinated by Joan Collins, I love her matching aesthetic and the way she’s always very pristine and co-ordinated. An artist that I based my SS16 collection is Eileen Eagal – she was a British eccentric and I’m always fascinated by that mentality, probably because I like to think that I am one too! Her studio was described as being like a giant collage.

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I’m always interested to work with things that are different to fashion and undertake projects in different fields because it’s something I don’t have any expertise in. It’s great to align yourself with a brand or reader who has more technical knowledge than you do. Compeed for me is a staple thing for a lot of industry people, in terms of the practical side: it’s something we always have backstage at shows, we have it in the studio for fittings, we have it if we’re doing a shoot. It’s something that was always around the label. That interested me from that point of view as being an essential and something women would have in their handbag. It made an everyday item for me.

We’ve seen you collaborate with brands like Simple and Elizabeth Arden, do you have any advice or tips when partnering with a beauty brand?

It’s always important to have a common goal and ethos with any brand you’re working with. There’s got to be some sort of connection there, whether it’s in terms of what you stand for visually or something that you can relate to with the brand. With Compeed, they have the caption ‘Unstoppable Woman’ and that to me insinuates a strong and powerful woman, which was our common goal. The worlds of fashion and beauty go hand in hand and are always linked, and it was great to create a vision that was outside of fashion with the beauty side of it.

What trends do you think will be big for SS16?

We had this thing backstage at the show called ‘accidental intentions’ – it was a trick with the hair when it was a little bit messed up so it looks like a bed head. I hope that will be big for beauty, leaving hair casual and natural. Having a quirk and something that was unique to each person has a really nice feeling to it. For clothing, I hope that everyone will resort to bright colours! For me, it’s important to layer things – things that clash and contrast create a look that’s a bit off and wrong in a sense. But if you have confidence you can pull it off.

Confidence is key! What other beauty essentials do you swear by?

Oh gosh, I’m quite boring! Red lips always. I always have a matte red lipstick with me at all times. I love Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream, £27 – it’s an essential. The latest thing I’m completely obsessed with is Bumble & Bumble longer lasting shampoo. I have quite thin Scottish hair which doesn’t like living in London and it’s got an incredible effect on my hair. 4711 Cologne, £7.70 is my go-to – I always have it in my bag, it refreshes and keeps me awake –especially when you’ve been up for 18 hours before a show! I also love the Avene Thermal Water Spray, £7 they’re so good to keep the skin hydrated. Everyone in the office laughs when I get it out because I spray everyone when we’re working really late!

Do you have any clever beauty tricks that you picked up along the way?

I love getting my eyelashes tinted! I also always make sure I curl my eyelashes everyday – it just really opens up your face. Cucumbers on the eyes too – a classic!